Coming into this season, every Indiana Pacers fan knew that Pascal Siakam was the best player on the team. He has the pedigree and experience, and he has shown everyone in Indy his value over the last two deep playoff runs. What has been surprising is how incredibly well he has been playing.
The Cameroon native has taken things up another notch, and it is something truly incredible to watch.
Pascal Siakam is doing it all for the Pacers
Siakam’s quiet consistency (and the team’s record) can allow us to overlook the fact that he has been playing incredible basketball.
During Indiana’s game against Brooklyn, the FanDuel telecast noted that Siakam had the second-highest point total in franchise history (182) after seven games in a season, behind only the great Reggie Miller.
His scoring prowess is a reminder that he can make his own offense -- something that has been needed during this disastrous start to this season’s campaign. But the thing is, Siakam isn't only scoring.
He currently leads the entire team in points per game (24.3), rebounds per game (7.9), and assists per game (5.8). The one-time NBA champion is doing all of this while averaging 35.3 minutes per game. This is 2.5 minutes per game more than his average last season and his highest average since joining the Pacers. Everyone knew that the team would need to be led by Siakam’s play this season. What has resulted is Indy’s all-star carrying the team on his back with a brilliant performance, even if that wasn’t able to translate into the win column.
There is no slowing down for Pascal Siakam now
Siakam took a rest game against the Warriors on Sunday night. And if the team wants to turn their record (and this entire season) around, Siakam is going to have to keep his foot on the gas.
Nightly injury reports are still so ridiculously long. Losses have been piling up. The season won’t slow down, and neither can Siakam. He has been doing everything he can to keep the team afloat, and the team will get some breaks soon (they have to, right?!), but if there is going to be any glimmer of hope for this team and their run over the next 6 months, it is going to come from the brilliance of Siakam and the contagious spirit by which he plays and leads. It is a long season, and I would not count the Pacers out just yet. I bet Siakam wouldn’t either.